Hutchinson open to bidding for new education test providerLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday he's open to Arkansas considering multiple proposals from standardized testing companies after he ordered education officials to drop out of an assessment linked to the Common Core standards. A day after directing state officials to withdraw from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Consortium, the Republican governor said he believed there was time to issue a r...

Prison department wants details of federal probeLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Department of Correction has formally requested details of the allegations that initiated a federal investigation into possible sexual abuse and harassment at a women's prison. In a letter dated Thursday, June 18, and sent to the U.S. Department of Justice Division of Civil Rights, Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley wrote that it's her department's duty to investigate any allegations against current ...

Big retailers feel pressure on Confederate flag merchandiseEven as national retailers pull Confederate flags from shelves and websites after the shooting deaths of nine black church members in South Carolina, manufacturers that produce the divisive symbol say that sales are now surging. "I don't sell the Confederate flag for any specific group, I just sell the flag," said Kerry McCoy, owner and president of Arkansas' FlagandBanner.com. "This is America. Everybody has a right to be represented whether ...

New Little Rock superintendent discusses plans for districtLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Little Rock lawyer hired to lead a financially strapped school district now controlled by the state said Tuesday that he's cut about $12.5 million from the district's budget and made other positive changes since taking the helm two months ago. Speaking to the Political Animals Club during a luncheon at the Governor's Mansion, Baker Kurrus called himself a "nontraditional superintendent" who was focusing on running the la...

Arkansas State Police begins redacting crash-report dataLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas State Police is citing a 21-year-old federal privacy law as their primary reason for withholding information from vehicle crash reports. The agency’s new policy, which began June 4, means that the only personal information available on crash reports are the names and hometowns of fatalities, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1eDvw2I ) reported. Other information, including the names of other drivers and passen...

Authorities recover body of missing Missouri man MARSHALL, Ark. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a Missouri man reported missing in the Buffalo National River last week during rough weather. The National Park Service says search crews on Monday morning found the body of 22-year-old Curtis Miller of Independence, Missouri. The park service says Miller's body was found in sandbar about 2 miles downstream from Grinder's Ferry in Searcy County, Arkansas, where Miller was last seen s...

Pig Trail closed again after heavy rains in NW ArkansasCASS, Ark. (AP) — Heavy rains along the Pig Trail Scenic Byway have undermined the road bed and forced highway officials to close it for the second time in a month. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said Tuesday that large cracks have formed in the highway north of Cass. The closure is 19 miles north of Interstate 40. Highway department spokesman Danny Straessle said heavy rains Monday night caused a hill slide at the same spo...

Inmate dies after prison stabbingSEARCY (AP) — The Arkansas Department of Correction says an inmate treated and released from a hospital following a stabbing has died. Joe Harter, 32, was pronounced dead Wednesday morning at a Searcy hospital. Department officials say he was stabbed in the chest Monday during an altercation with another inmate at the Grimes Unit in Newport. They say a homemade weapon was confiscated after the attack. The identity of the other inmate hasn't be...

FBI: Man shot outside of Arkansas Air Force base diesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An armed man who was shot by guards after crashing his SUV while trying to break into an Arkansas military base has died, authorities said Wednesday. Larry D. McElroy, 43, died Tuesday night at a Little Rock hospital, FBI spokeswoman Deb Green said. McElroy had been in critical condition since Monday, when guards shot him after he crashed his SUV outside of the Little Rock Air Force Base and emerged from the vehicle holding ...

Highway crews closing exit to LR hospital SaturdayLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Road crews will close an exit to the Baptist Health complex in Little Rock this weekend during work on an access ramp. The exit from Interstate 630 eastbound and Interstate 430 northbound will be closed Saturday and traffic diverted to nearby Barrow Road. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said Wednesday that workers will remove a temporary barrier wall and mark the pavement as work approaches an end around t...

Little Rock council rejects police residency requirementLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Little Rock City Council has rejected a proposal to require newly hired police officers to live within city limits. The council voted 6-4 Tuesday night against the residency requirement following nearly two hours of discussion and public comment. Councilwoman Erma Hendrix says her proposal was designed to better race relations following high-profile police shootings of black men. She says only 21 percent of the city's 35...

Lawmaker who gave away girls won't seek re-electionLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas lawmaker who gave his adopted daughters to a man who later admitted to sexually assaulting one of them says he won't seek re-election in 2016. Republican Rep. Justin Harris of West Fork says he made the decision about a month ago. Harris says he previously considered stepping back but acknowledged the decision was influenced by the widespread scrutiny following a March Arkansas Times article detailing Harris' act...

Maumelle man stabbed while in car near fire stationMAUMELLE (AP) — Police are investigating the stabbing of a man near a fire station in Maumelle. Steven Wilson, 39, was stabbed Monday afternoon while he was in his vehicle stopped at a stop sign. Capt. Jim Hansard said in a statement that Wilson told authorities a man walked up to his vehicle and stabbed him in the abdomen. Wilson said he drove himself to Maumelle Fire Station 2 after the incident. Police responded and found Wilson being treat...

Funeral home owners charged with corpse abuseLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The owners of a closed Arkansas funeral home were charged Tuesday with 13 counts of abuse of a corpse after regulators found bodies stacked on top of each other and some stored outside of a freezer earlier this year. Arkansas Funeral Care's owners, 86-year-old LeRoy Wood and his 61-year-old son, Rod Wood, appeared in Jacksonville District Court early Tuesday and were released on their own recognizance. Former funeral directo...

Fire forces city offices to relocate to high school buildingSTEPHENS (AP) — City offices in Stephens have been relocated to an old high school building after a fire destroyed the municipal building. A blaze last week destroyed the Stephens Municipal Building, which housed the mayor's office as well as the police and water departments. It took firefighters around three hours to extinguish the Thursday night fire. Stephens Mayor Harry Brown said the exact cause is still under investigation. But he says t...

2 airports considering sharing same airwavesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Two airports separated by just a few miles are looking to share airwaves to help increase pilot safety. The North Little Rock Municipal Airport and the Camp Robinson airfield are considering establishing a new radio frequency that only they would share so pilots at both can communicate with just each other. Neither airport has an air traffic control tower, where controllers use radar and other equipment to control aircraft i...

South Korea — "Here we are"Chance and fate have always titillated, sometimes enervated and always confounded man. The Greeks debated them, the Romans did their best to annihilate them if they got in their way and we live within their seemingly fickle sway, although the one is often indistinguishable from the other. Shawn Taurone, a Lamar High School math teacher, was offered a sizeable chunk of money by a pipeline company for a strip of his property north of Dover. An e...

Condition of many levees in Arkansas is unknownLITTLE ROCK — The director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management says the condition of many the state’s levees that protect residents from floodwaters is unknown. Recent flooding on the Arkansas River tore away about 450 feet of a levee and flooded part of Perry County. Fears of a breach on a levee along the Red River in Miller County led to the evacuation of Garland City. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has declared emergencies in 37 countie...